Finished Crime and Punishment yesterday. Finally. Took my seemingly forever to slog through. My reactions to it are a bit mixed, it has some absolutely fantastic parts and others that are just abysmally boring. The translation is usually terrible, but the good writing manages to shine through every so often, and the dialogue is really, really stilted sometimes. Dostoevsky takes way too long to get to the point, generally.

Since it's October I figured I'd start up something vaguely horror-related and Dracula was staring at me, unread, from the depths of my Kindle, so why not? Dracula it is.

Wow, it must be really good since I'm highly enjoying Knife of Dreams, specially the Egwene chapters. About Mat, I also kind of hated him at the beginning, but it seems he has matured a bit and his chapters are funny most of the time. Btw, Tuon's a bitch .

Well, to be fair, Knife of Dreams doesn't have a lot of Egwene chapters. However, I can say her chapters is the highlight of every book. If there is the character in Wheel of Time I really care about, it's definitely her. And The Gathering Storm definitely does justice to her so far. No spoilers though.

Finished Crime and Punishment yesterday. Finally. Took my seemingly forever to slog through. My reactions to it are a bit mixed, it has some absolutely fantastic parts and others that are just abysmally boring. The translation is usually terrible, but the good writing manages to shine through every so often, and the dialogue is really, really stilted sometimes. Dostoevsky takes way too long to get to the point, generally.

Since it's October I figured I'd start up something vaguely horror-related and Dracula was staring at me, unread, from the depths of my Kindle, so why not? Dracula it is.

I had to stop reading Crime and Punishment because it got so boring for me about halfway through, which is a shame because I really enjoyed Brothers Karamazov. Dracula is good, if you don't mind the epistlolary format. I'm more a fan of Frankenstein though when it comes to the classic horror novels

Finished Crime and Punishment yesterday. Finally. Took my seemingly forever to slog through. My reactions to it are a bit mixed, it has some absolutely fantastic parts and others that are just abysmally boring. The translation is usually terrible, but the good writing manages to shine through every so often, and the dialogue is really, really stilted sometimes. Dostoevsky takes way too long to get to the point, generally.

Since it's October I figured I'd start up something vaguely horror-related and Dracula was staring at me, unread, from the depths of my Kindle, so why not? Dracula it is.

I thought Dracula was really good. Still not even halfway through Crime and Punishment.

Finished Crime and Punishment yesterday. Finally. Took my seemingly forever to slog through. My reactions to it are a bit mixed, it has some absolutely fantastic parts and others that are just abysmally boring. The translation is usually terrible, but the good writing manages to shine through every so often, and the dialogue is really, really stilted sometimes. Dostoevsky takes way too long to get to the point, generally.

Since it's October I figured I'd start up something vaguely horror-related and Dracula was staring at me, unread, from the depths of my Kindle, so why not? Dracula it is.

I had to stop reading Crime and Punishment because it got so boring for me about halfway through, which is a shame because I really enjoyed Brothers Karamazov.

I actually thought the first half was the better part of the book though that may only be because the fatigue hadn't set in yet.

Quote

Dracula is good, if you don't mind the epistolary format. I'm more a fan of Frankenstein though when it comes to the classic horror novels

Finally finished catching up on the Song of Ice and Fire series. Still enjoying the books, but damn is the pace really slowing. The last couple of books have had some fantastic stuff towards the end, but so much plodding along in the middle.

Still, there are a lot of exciting unknowns which I'm enjoying. Just a shame we're going to have to wait so long probably another couple of decades at this rate) to find out how it all ends, if indeed we ever find out.

Actually, I have a certain feeling The Gathering Storm can become my favourite book in the series, I'm immensely enjoying it right now. I'm taking every moment I can to keep reading, and I'm slowly crawling to the middle of the book, and I love it so far. Much better than both Crossroads and Knife, in my opinion.

The Gathering Storm is my favorite WoT book since The Shadow Rising. The juxtaposition of Rand and Egwene's arcs really make the book for me. Both are brought to satisfying conclusions. Unfortunately, the next book suffers because of this, as half of the characters are a significant stretch of time behind those two. It is really weird chronologically, especially with Perrin, who does not catch up until over halfway through the book, and how chapters from months in the future are inserted between chapters from him, Mat, and many other characters. One example is how the ending of tGS talks about events that have yet to be shown from Perrin's perspective.

As for my thoughts on the final two, TOM has many really awesome moments: tons of stuff involving whatever the hell that dream world is called, the Tower of Ghe-something, Perrin's development, Nynaeve's testing... so many things happen at a breakneck pace that was necessary to fit everything in before the finale, though it almost seems to be too fast. AMOL has a really satisfying conclusion (the last few chapters and the epilogue ... just... very wow). The stuff that leads up to it... not quite so great. The constant battle scenes really make the book drag, though that one certain chapter is amazing. Beyond a few cringe-inducing lines of dialogue and some bullshit world-building inconsistencies that almost ruin Egwene's final scene, which is one of, if not the, the most beautifully written and powerful death scenes in the series, I have few gripes. There are some really awesome scenes (a conversation between Elayne and Rand early in the book come to mind), and it is a wonderful conclusion to one of my favorite fantasy series.

And, for non-spoilers, Chapter 37 of the final book is really long. As in, longer than a certain book that shares its name.

Quote

edit: also, I hated Mat (and his chapters) for a long time

Aww, Mat is my favorite of the three ta'veren. I really grew to like him around tSR; his humor makes his chapters the most enjoyable of the series.

I have already written quite a bit, but a few last things:

Have either of you read New Spring? If you have not, I recommend doing so before book 13. The best place to read it is between CoT and KoD, as that is when it was published, though both of you are already past that point.

Also, if you like Brandon's writing style in the last few books, I recommend picking up his Mistborn trilogy. It is an easy and enjoyable read and sports one of the best magic systems and conclusions I have ever read in fantasy. If you are in the mood for something longer, his Stormlight Archive is also a good choice. It is projected to be a ten book series, two of which are currently published. Brandon writes fairly quickly, and has stated that he plans to release two books every three years. So, unlike with aSoIaF, there will be no six year gaps between books. The first entry is Brandon's best work to date.

As for my own reading plans, I am seriously considering learning Japanese so that I can read Shinsekai Yori. I absolutely loved the anime adaptation (a top 5 anime series IMO, and my current favorite) when I watched it a few months back, and have heard that the series left out some really powerful scenes from the source material. Unfortunately, there is no official translation, so it will have quite a steep learning curve associated with it. Though, as a bonus, I will no longer need subtitles, a very important step in my quest to become an uber-elitist.

Have either of you read New Spring? If you have not, I recommend doing so before book 13. The best place to read it is between CoT and KoD, as that is when it was published, though both of you are already past that point.

Also, if you like Brandon's writing style in the last few books, I recommend picking up his Mistborn trilogy. It is an easy and enjoyable read and sports one of the best magic systems and conclusions I have ever read in fantasy. If you are in the mood for something longer, his Stormlight Archive is also a good choice. It is projected to be a ten book series, two of which are currently published. Brandon writes fairly quickly, and has stated that he plans to release two books every three years. So, unlike with aSoIaF, there will be no six year gaps between books. The first entry is Brandon's best work to date.

Oh yeah, it was the first book of the series I read. I wish I had read it later, but I would have hated Moraine if I didn't. In fact, I might re-read it before AMoL or even before ToM, just to refresh my memory on what happens there.

And finished A Knife of Dreams yesterday (can't relate the title with the content though). Great book, it keeps the quality of the series and is awesome that Jordan wrote his last book that good. Started with The Gathering Storm, and just finished the prologue. Brandon's style isn't so different from Jordan's, so I have no problems with it.

Oh yeah, it was the first book of the series I read. I wish I had read it later, but I would have hated Moraine if I didn't. In fact, I might re-read it before AMoL or even before ToM, just to refresh my memory on what happens there.

You do not really need to; most of the world building from there is already established by the end of CoT. NS is a prequel, and thus it explains the motivations of Moraine and Lan, and delves into some White Tower politics, though the reader should know most of this by book 10. I feel that reading the first few books without this knowledge is a better way to go through the series for the first time. When I do my reread, I will start with it. The only reason I suggested reading it before ToM is so that you will have knowledge of the Aes Sedai testing, which is not explained elsewhere in Jordan's volumes, before a certain scene in ToM.

Quote

And finished A Knife of Dreams yesterday (can't relate the title with the content though). Great book, it keeps the quality of the series and is awesome that Jordan wrote his last book that good. Started with The Gathering Storm, and just finished the prologue. Brandon's style isn't so different from Jordan's, so I have no problems with it.

The titles of the WoT volumes are usually related to the in-universe epigraphs included at the start and end of each volume. They do expand on things thematically, but are otherwise not of much importance. Enjoy tGS; it is the best book in the second half of the series.

A Man on the Moon by Andrew Chaikin. Apollo has been endlessly documented, and I never get tired of reading/watching more about Apollo. I usually know 80% of it already, but each time I learn some new detail.

This book is what the HBO series From the Earth to the Moon was based on. I have a large hardcover book from the library which is more like a coffee table book with lots of full page photos, and this makes it a bit awkward to read for longer than 30 minutes at a time. It's mostly filled with factual information, including recollections of the astronauts themselves, so the stories of the missions are interspersed with dialogue between the astronauts. The writing lends itself nicely to a screenplay, which I suppose is why it was adapted for that.

I have just finished reading the 2 books in the Kingkiller Chronicles by Patrick Rothfuss, which i thoroughly enjoyed. If i enjoyed these does anyone have any opinions on whether Malazan Book of the Fallen would be a good series to get into next? Cheers

I have just finished reading the 2 books in the Kingkiller Chronicles by Patrick Rothfuss, which i thoroughly enjoyed. If i enjoyed these does anyone have any opinions on whether Malazan Book of the Fallen would be a good series to get into next? Cheers

Haven't read it, but I've seen nothing but praise for it everywhere, so it indeed seems a cool choice. But it seems to be a long series, with around ten books. If you're not used to huge fantasy sagas, you can try something smaller like trilogies. Mistborn has been recommended before on this thread, so that would be an alternative choice. If not, you can check these other series (btw, don't read the Wheel of Time synopsis, it has some huge spoilers of the first 3 books).

And talking about WoT, I've just finished book twelve, The Gathering Storm. And, damn, it might be the best book of the whole series so far. For the first time, I felt it didn't have unnecessary subplots, excessive descriptions, and more interesting scenes - some have almost brought me to tears. And the fact that there are no more than 2 consecutive chapters with the same character POV made it a gorgeous reading. Really, I can't be more excited to reach the ending of the series - but at the same time, I don't want it to end. I love it so hard, and the fact that there won't be more books of the series breakes my heart .